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Serbia seeks UN ruling on Kosovo

The UN General Assembly will consider a Serbian draft resolution calling for a ruling by the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo's independence - recognized by 46 countries, but not Serbia or Russia.

The UN General Assembly will meet on October 8 to discuss a Serbian draft resolution calling for a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of Kosovo's independence, a spokesman said Monday.

"The issue of Kosovo will be discussed in the General Assembly on October 8," Enrique Yeves, the spokesman for General Assembly president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, told a press briefing.

The debate will not focus on the validity of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Belgrade last February but rather on whether the ICJ should be asked to rule on its legality.

Serbia has submitted a short draft resolution in the 192-member assembly demanding that "the International Court of Justice (ICJ) provides an advisory opinion ... on whether the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo is in accordance with international law."

Approval of the draft by the assembly requires a simple majority.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ -- part of the United Nations -- rules on disputes between sovereign states.

Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo, a UN-run province of Serbia since 1999 when it was wrested from Belgrade's control in a NATO air war, unilaterally seceded from Belgrade on February 17.

Its statehood has been recognized by 46 countries, including the United States and most European Union nations.

But Serbia -- as well as Russia, its main ally on the world stage -- reject Kosovo's independence as an illegal violation of its territorial integrity.